Risk factors for bovine herpesvirus 1 infection in cattle herds in the West region of Parana State

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of positive herds and to identify the risk factors for BoHV-1 infection in breeding cattle herds in the Western region of Parana State. The statistic delineation, the serum samples and information regarding the selected farms, were the same employed in the study of bovine brucellosis for Parana State in the context of National Program for Control and Eradication of Brucellosis and Tuberculosis. The sampling was performed in two stages. Blood samples were collected from 1930 females aged >= 24 months from 295 non vaccinated herds. Serum samples were tested for antibodies against BoHV-1 using an indirect ELISA. The epidemiological questionnaire was applied on all the selected farms and aimed to obtain epidemiological data. Hundred ninety of the 295 herds were positive for BoHV-1, presenting prevalence of positive herds of 64.41% [58.65-69.87%]. The number (>= 23) of females aged 24 months (OR= 2.22; IC: 1.09-4.51), purchased cattle (OR= 2.68; IC: 1.48-4.82), use of common grass (OR= 5.93; IC: 1.31-26.82), history of abortion in the last 12 months (OR= 2.37; IC: 1.09-5.16) and presence of wildlife animals (OR= 8.86; IC: 1.11-70.73) were identified as risk factors for BoHV-1 infection in the multivariate logistic regression. These results indicate that BoHV-1 infection is widespread in the studied region and that factors related to the herd characteristic and management are associated with the infection.